Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry spoke to reporters on Thursday after shootaround prior to Game 2 of the team’s second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He called his hamstring injury a “gut punch” and said he does not have a target return date.
Early in the second quarter of Game 1 on Tuesday night, Curry reached for his hamstring and struggled to make his way up the floor. After the Timberwolves called a timeout, he went straight to the locker room and did not return.
The team announced on Wednesday that Curry has been diagnosed with a Grade 1 hamstring strain and will be sidelined through at least Game 4, which is scheduled for May 12.
Curry could be back as soon as Game 5 in Minneapolis, set for May 14, but it remains to be seen how his hamstring will respond to treatment. Curry noted that this is the first hamstring issue he’s ever had.
“This is new and from all that I’m learning about how quickly you can get back, there has to be a healing process,” Curry said. “That’s just the way the body works. You can’t accelerate it more than what it’s telling you. After a week, [the medical staff will be] really re-evaluating every day to understand when it’s safe to even think about playing, let alone how much can you push it.”
Curry’s absence is, obviously, a significant blow to the Warriors. While they were able to win Game 1 largely without him, they were 41-29 when he played in the regular season and 7-5 when he did not. Of course, some of those regular-season games came without Jimmy Butler on the roster. Butler picked up the slack Tuesday and went for 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in Game 1. But the point remains: the Warriors are at their best with Curry, who averaged 24 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists on 39.2% 3-point shooting in the first round.
Unfortunately for Curry and the Warriors, it’s unclear when or if he’ll be able to return in this series. His availability may ultimately depend on whether Butler and Co. can extend it long enough to give him a chance, and stealing Game 1 on the road went a long way toward accomplishing that goal.
